Summer table is unthinkable without fresh, fragrant cucumbers, and because this vegetable every gardener always has the “honorary” flower bed. This culture is very grateful: with good care plants give their owner a generous harvest. It is a pity that the traditional sowing of seeds in the open ground of the first cucumbers have to wait quite a long time. But after a long gloomy winter, each of us wants to taste crispy cucumbers as soon as possible!
Grow through seedlings
Cucumber is a heat-loving culture that does not tolerate spring temperature fluctuations and dies under the influence of return frosts. But if you give her the opportunity to spend the “infant” age at home and wait out the spring weather, then after 2-3 weeks after transplanting plants in the garden you can eat the first cucumbers.
It is not necessary to hurry with planting seeds for seedlings: cucumber seedlings grow quickly, and with prolonged stay in cramped conditions of the window sill strongly stretched. Therefore, to begin to decide when you can plant seedlings on a summer garden (taking into account the weather conditions of your region), and 4-5 weeks before that, sow the seeds in a pre-prepared container.
For this purpose, stock up in advance with a loose fertile substrate, as well as individual pots or cups – cucumbers do not tolerate picking. In each glass, plant 2 seeds, and with the emergence of shoots, remove one weaker sprout.
During the growing season, regularly water the seedlings, so that the earthen lump in the glasses is all the time in a moderately moist state. On cloudy days be sure shining cucumbers fluorescent lamp, but not more than 10-12 hours a day.
And if you notice that the seedlings develop reluctantly and lose a rich green shade of their leaves, feed them any complex mineral fertilizer according to the instructions.
At the age of 25-30 days cucumber seedlings will be ready for transplantation to the garden. Just do not forget to temper it before it in the fresh air.
We plant in a greenhouse
Significantly accelerate the appearance of the first help greenhouses: in protected soil to harvest can be much earlier than in the open air. Both buildings perform the same function – help protect plants from adverse weather conditions, and also, thanks to the closed space, contribute to a faster warming of the air and soil in the spring, which, in turn, brings the time of planting cucumbers and the beginning of their fruiting.
The construction of a stationary greenhouse on its own will require significant labor, and the purchase of a ready-made facility for some gardeners may seem expensive. However, such a high and spacious design, undoubtedly, will justify itself: cucumbers, receiving protection from the weather throughout the growing season, will please not only early, but also a more generous harvest.
Some gardeners build low stationary greenhouses of glass or polycarbonate and use them for growing seedlings. With this approach, they are able to establish favorable conditions to transplant into the open ground already grown cucumber seedlings, while their neighbors in the country are just beginning to sow seeds in their beds.
Warm the soil in the greenhouse
Many summer residents in the winter throw in the greenhouse more snow, which with the arrival of warming saturates the greenhouse soil with the necessary moisture. This technique really deserves attention, if at their country house there are problems with water supply. But if the first plan is to obtain an early harvest of cucumbers, this event is better to postpone: with this approach, the greenhouse beds will warm up much longer.
In the greenhouse, the air temperature rises fairly quickly in the spring, but the heating of the caked soil is delayed. To speed up this process, in early spring, as soon as the sun’s rays warm, dig a bed planned for cucumbers. It does not need to break the clods of earth and level the surface – so the soil warms up much faster.
A few days before planting cucumbers, level the surface and pour plenty of hot water from the watering can. Immediately after that, cover the bed with a black thick film, fixing its edges with improvised materials.
It is possible to arrive differently: to dig across a bed of a trench on a bayonet of a shovel, to pour in them hot water, and already after that to level a site and to cover it with a film.
This procedure is carried out every day, achieving warming of the soil on the greenhouse bed to optimal values. During planting, the film can not be removed: at the desired distance, cross-shaped cuts are made in it, and seedlings or cucumber seeds are planted in these holes.
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